Interior windshield wiper

Abstract

A laterally movable wiper arm assembly cleans curved interior surfaces of automobile and truck windshields. The wiper blade is movable on two curved tracks; one at the top of the windshield and one at the bottom of the windshield, with a vertically oriented telescoping wiper blade movable laterally therebetween. The telescoping arm support permits the vertical blade to tilt into the corners at the bottom of the windshield, to cover a larger proportion of the area, since the bottom of a windshield is longer than the top. The blade or wiping pad is supported with a resilient foam layer attached to a flexible substrate, which is adjustably attached to a rigid support arm following the windshield contour.

I claim:  
     
       1. A laterally movable wiper arm assembly for cleaning curved interior surfaces of automobile and truck windshields, comprising a generally vertically and axially extending sweepable wiper blade movable on a pair of curved tracks; one of said tracks extending horizontally at a top of the windshield and another of said tracks extending horizontally at a bottom of the windshield, said vertically extending wiper blade movable laterally therebetween, said wiper arm assembly having a rigid wiper arm support being telescoping with respect to its vertically extending axis, said telescoping rigid wiper arm support permitting said vertically extending wiper blade to tilt into respective corners at a bottom of the windshield to cover a larger proportion of the area thereat, 
       wherein said wiper blade is supported with a resilient layer attached to a flexible substrate, which said flexible substrate is adjustably attached to said rigid arm support, said rigid arm support movably following the windshield contour.  
     
     
       2. The windshield wiper arm assembly as in  claim 1 , wherein said wiper arm is parked at a passenger side when not cycling, to minimize any impediment to driver peripheral view. 
     
     
       3. The windshield wiper arm assembly as in  claim 2 , wherein said wiper arm assembly is manually operable by a handle. 
     
     
       4. The windshield wiper arm assembly as in  claim 1 , wherein said wiper blade is a rubber wiper blade. 
     
     
       5. The windshield wiper arm assembly as in  claim 1 , wherein said wiper blade is an absorbent fabric pad configured into a narrow blade shape. 
     
     
       6. The windshield wiper arm assembly as in  claim 1 , wherein said wiper arm moves laterally along said tracks in a transverse stroke, said wiper arm tilting out and pivoting slightly both at its respective top and bottom, wherein at an end each transverse stroke, said wiper arm tilts to a maximum angle. 
     
     
       7. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 6 , wherein said wiper blade is attached to said resilient layer, said resilient layer being made of resilient foam, which said layer of foam conforms to minor concavity variations as said wiper arm moves laterally across the windshield, said wiper arm having an adjustable, flexible, semi-rigid substrate optimally following the contour of the windshield, to match a concavity of the windshield at a mid-point of said transverse stroke. 
     
     
       8. The laterally movable wiper arm assembly as in  claim 6 , wherein said upper and lower tracks are u-shaped in crossection, wherein further said telescoping wiper arm support includes an extension attached to a wheeled, pivotable track plate, said track plate movable within said upper track, said track plate attached to a compression spring supported within a cavity of a support bar, said compression spring urging said wiper arm support against said top track and said bottom track, and, said wiper arm support having a wheeled track plate movable within said lower track. 
     
     
       9. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 8 , further comprising a power supply motor moving said wiper arm laterally adjacent to and between said upper and lower tracks, said wiper arm support attached by said track plates to respective timing belts within said respective upper and lower tracks, said timing belts movable about respective belt drive pulleys, said pulleys rotatable by a drive shaft driven by said power supply motor. 
     
     
       10. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 9 , wherein said power supply motor is a direct current DC permanent magnet (PM) gear motor. 
     
     
       11. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 10 , further comprising a first limit switch and a second limit switch, said first limit switch detecting arrival of said wiper arm assembly at an end of said transverse stroke at one side of the windshield, said second limit switch detecting arrival of said wiper arm assembly at an opposite side of the windshield. 
     
     
       12. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 11 , further comprising an electrical circuit having a plug operating said wiper arm support from a cigarette lighter outlet, said power supply motor moving said wiper arm in reversible directions when polarity of supply current of said power supply motor is reversed. 
     
     
       13. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 12 , further comprising a relay reversing said respective directions of said wiper arm support as said wiper arm support reaches opposite ends of said pair of tracks. 
     
     
       14. The wiper arm support as in  claim 13 , further comprising a timer energizing said relay by causing current flow for a predetermined time. 
     
     
       15. The wiper arm assembly as in  claim 8 , further comprising a manually operable spring reel, said spring reel powering a reel rewinding a cable, said cable returning said wiper arm support from a first manually movable position to an opposite storage position along said pair of tracks.